Victoria's Lullaby
by ttrainsandsewingmachiness
Summary: Riley, Bree Tanner and Victoria embark on a new journey together in these outtakes from Eclipse. Involves bloodlust, changing into vampires, biting and Rated T for hints of seductiveness...
1. Victoria's Lullaby

**A/N: This is an 'out take' from Eclipse. It's basically what my impression was on the night Victoria changed Riley. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters! All rights go to Stephanie Meyer! Thank you very mushhh!**

**-----------------------------------------------**

**RPOV**

**-----------------------------------------------**

A barely perceptibal swish of the curtains catches my eye. I wouldn't have noticed a change in the room unless my attention had not been riveted there for the last hour.

Shadows flit, and my eyes stray.

Something isn't right. Something is wrong—very wrong.

My phone buzzes on my nightstand table, and it lights the room with long, blue, dancing shadows.

I pick up the small device, glancing at the caller ID.

_Noel._

Sighing, I flip open the phone and press it to my ear.

But I don't answer. I don't say anything.

"Riley?" she finally asks, and her voice shakes. "Are you there? Because if you are, I really need you to answer me. Something—"

"I'm here," I say, interrupting her. Her voice shakes, so I can tell she's scared. I don't want her to be scared, because then I'll worry, and I don't feel like doing anything for anybody right now.

The shadows in the corner of my room—fringing on the perimeter of the blue light—shift, and my eyes automatically go there.

"Well… oh," she says, "How are you?"

I don't answer again—only, this time, not because I don't want to, but because a flicker of red glints in the shadow, and it paralyzes my vocal cords with fear.

"Riley? Hello?"

"Fine," I say curtly, and my voice cracks. I rest my head back to the pillow. "How are you?"

I really shouldn't have said this, because I know she's going to tell me the truth. And I don't need the truth right now.

There is a slight jingle, like a cat's bell, and my head snaps up. Am I hearing things, now, too?

Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm going crazy, but I'm positive something is in my room. There is a flash of white.

"Um, a little shaky, actually," she admits, laughing softly, and I picture her running a small, dainty hand through her long caramel hair.

Intently, I squint, trying to make sense of the vague shape of the woman I'm really trying to convince myself isn't there.

"What's wrong?" a high soprano voice inquires—and immediately, I am reminded of bubble gum and pig tails. "Are you scared?" she speaks softly, enough so that Noel doesn't hear her, and steps into the light.

A beautiful woman stands before me at the foot of my bed. Long red, tousled waves ripple to her belly button. She has a tiny waist and perfectly proportioned breasts. The features on her face are carved gracefully with angel's fingers, with a feline twist, high in her cheekbones.

It is not her sensual lips, nor her cheekbones, nor her breasts that I notice first though; but her bright ruby red eyes.

I bite back a yell of fright and squeeze my phone tighter in my hand, feeling it slip slightly in my suddenly sweaty grip.

"Riley?" Noel is saying, and I just numbly stare at the woman with the porcelain skin and amazing body, standing in front of me—trying to comprehend.

"Hang up," she whispers, and the flutter of her lips, the brush of them against each other, the slip of breath, and the intensity of her eyes almost causes me to drop dead right there because she is so spectacular.

"Uh," I say, blinking, "Noel?"

I think she was in the middle of something, but I really can't remember right about now.

"Yes?"

"I have to go. I'll talk to you later."

"No, Riley, this is really—" But I hang up before she can finish her sentence.

Then I just stare at the woman before me. She places her hands on her hips, pursing her lips.

"Good."

I watch her watch me, and attempt to clear my throat.

"Your name is Riley?" she asks, each word crisp and clear, complete with a melodic tint to each syllable pronounced.

Helplessly, I nod.

"My name is Victoria," she tells me and steps forward, slowly, deliberately. There is a streak and a whoosh, and her face is in mine.

This time I can't hold back the yelp of fright that escapes my throat.

"Would you like to join me, Riley?" she murmurs, eyes glinting.

I swallow, breathing in the sweet scent that seems to be emanating from her skin. I lean back. She is too mesmerizing, too hypnotizing, too wonderful. Too good to be true.

"Join you in what?" I finally manage.

She grins a wide, toothy grin. The moonlight glints off her teeth. If I really focus, I can tell that they are sharp—very sharp.

Her full, perfect lips pull back even farther from her teeth, and a low growl pitches from the back of her throat. It rumbles through her chest, vibrating over my skin.

Cool, sweet air wafts over my face, and I blink hard, dazed.

"I will give you a clue," she whispers, ducking her head to rub her nose up and down the column of my throat. I swallow compulsively.

"I am dangerous," she murmurs, pressing cool lips to my jugular vein. My heart pounds in my throat. "I am supernatural. I am the star of your nightmares."

She pulls back to look at me, nostrils flaring, eyes wild and hazy.

"Can you guess, Riley? Guess what I am," she demands, shackling my wrists in a sudden, cool and firm grasp. So firm that I can feel my bones begin to ache from the pressure of her hands.

I squirm, and she releases me, moving her hands to my face.

"I c-cant," I stutter.

"One more hint," she hisses, and ducks her head again.

This time, though, pain flares in my veins.

It takes a moment for the shock to pass and the realization to set in that she has bitten me.

Before I have time to cry out, fire flashes down my skin, drowning my own cry in my throat, strangling it into submissive silence.

Pain slashes the other side of my throat, and then my jaw, and my wrists.

Gasping like a person coming up from air after being underwater for an extensive period of time, my cry pierces the still night air.

"Don't cry, my darling love," she murmurs, wiping her cool thumbs over my cheeks—but even that doesn't sooth the fire, "we will be together soon."

Outside, it begins to rain…


	2. Victoria's Command

**A/N: Sequel to Victoria's Lullaby since I got such a big response and I'm absolutely psyched for Eclipse! Yayyy! **

"_**nothing satisfies me but your soul"**_

**RPOV**

A breeze washes over my face, yet I cannot feel the chill it must inevitably bring along with the rain—also warm against my skin.

"Riley," she says, and I turn toward her, tearing my eyes from the cars zipping by on the Seattle street below.

Victoria sits against the cement wall of the roof behind me. She brushes her fingers through her flaming hair and I blink, mesmerized by the pearl elegance of her fingers pulling through the waves of ruby.

"Yes?" I say, pulling my feet from where they are dangled in the air so I can swing one leg over the cement partition separating me from solid ground and empty space.

"I'm sending you out," she says, rocking forward on her heels and rising to her feet. To a mere human, the movement would have been incomprehensible. But with my newly sharpened senses, I watched every fluid motion with intense credibility.

When Victoria changed me a week ago, I had no idea what was going on. When I, you could say "woke up", and found myself under the coverage of trees and moss, my senses only sharpened in the darkness of night, Victoria was no where to be found.

But the scent I could remember hazily from somewhere faraway was stronger in the wind, and I followed it, finding her deep in a clearance, feasting over a human's body.

It didn't disturb me, it only drew me closer, the sweet metallic taste flaring a burn in my throat that couldn't be ignored.

Now, I rise to my feet, perching on the edge of the cement wall. Victoria examines my stance with wary pitch eyes.

"To where, may I ask?" I inquired, locking my arms behind my back, rocking back and then forth, revelling in the ghost of anticipatory fear in the empty cavity of my chest, when nothing but open air meets my back behind me.

Her sensual lips curl into a curvaceous smirk and she steps closer to me, the pads of her bare feet slapping against the damp cement. As she emerges from the covering shelter of the wall behind her, rain drips into her hair, running down the column of her throat and I feel something stir in me.

"Riley," she says as she leaps up onto the wall beside me, rising onto the balls of her feet to balance herself. She rests a hand to my chest, sliding one leg between my feet so she can move closer. She shakes her head, pursing her scarlet lips.

I clear my throat—a human reaction I have not yet shaken. "Yes?"

"Riley, Riley," she whispers now, her face inclining toward mine. She brushes her lips against my own, and I close my eyes reflexively. "Riley," she whispers now, lifting her hands to grasp my jaw. I open my eyes to find her staring at me. The white graphic t-shirt she wears is soaking through. "I'm sending you out to find our next recruit."

"Recruit?" I repeat dumbly.

She grins nodding her head and presses her lips to mine again.

"I trust you," she tells me after she pulls away. Her crimson eyes flicker. "Now go."

I swallow, and then step away, leaping from the roof. I grip the bar of a streetlight in my hands, swinging on it to lessen my velocity and drop the remaining ten feet to the pavement.

As I land, I glance up to the roof where I was formerly standing with Victoria. I catch a glimpse of her—her body illuminated by the orange streetlights around me. I see her watching me for a fleeting moment, and then she turns, leaping back onto the roof, disappearing from my sight.

I'm walking through the park when I smell it—notes of Water Lilly, Ripe Guava, Dark Chocolate and Vanilla; but more than the perfume that this girl is so obviously wearing, I can smell her blood.

My nostrils flare, and my feet shift in the direction of her scent—without my mind even having to compel my body.

I pull up short when I see her sitting on a swing—her off white dress almost shimmering I the moonlight. One strap has slid off of her shoulder, revealing the creamy, delectable flesh of her shoulder, stretched taught over her slight bone structure.

I swallow the venom on my mouth, moving closer to her. She doesn't hear me approach, and I lower myself into the swing next to her, the clink of the metal chains catching her attention.

She looks up quickly, her hair swishing against her rib cage, and she swivels her head toward me so quickly that her scent rippling toward me so steadily that it takes me aback. How can the scent of her blood be so strong even though she's not bleeding?

"Hello," I say, trying to make my voice soothing.

She blinks, and a tear dribbles down her cheek. She lifts her fingers to wipe it away. "Um," she says, "hi."

"What's wrong, if you don't mind me asking?" I inquired, beginning to rock the swing back and forth, trying to look as human as possible.

She raises her head, looking around the empty park, and I hear the rate of her heart escalate.

She draws in a shuddering breath. "I'm fine," she excuses, dragging her feet through the soft sand beneath us. About a foot away, a pair of grey flats rest.

"Well," I urge, "you don't seem fine. You're crying." And I reach up to run a finger along the sticky trail a tear has left on her cheek.

Her heart pounds at her ribcage and I bite back my grin. Who knew I could have such an effect on a girl?

"No, I'm not," she blurts finally.

"You're not fine, or you're not crying?" I try to clarify.

She shakes her head and rises from the swing, the chains clattering noisily in the otherwise silent night, and she slips her feet back into her shoes as she says, "I should really get going. I shouldn't be out so late."

"Wait," I entreat, rising to my own feet—my ascent much more fluid and silent than hers—and step after her, grasping her wrist, "let me walk you home."

She gasps, probably at the chill of my skin on hers and yanks against my grasp. I let her go, and she stumbles back slightly. Her eyes are wide on my face—probably because we've stepped into the light and she can see how dark my eyes are.

I think I hear her whisper "What are you?" but I can't be sure.

It's long stopped raining, but I see goose bumps manifest on her skin anyway. She takes a few more stuttering steps back, yanking the sleeve of her dress back up onto her shoulder.

"I really have to go," she insists, and starts walking again, though much quicker this time.

"No," I say—maybe snap—and stride after her, grabbing her arm again, yanking her to a stop. She yelps at my violent pull. I could have easily matched my stride with hers, but I chose to stop her.

She stares wordlessly into my face, more tears welling in her eyes. "Let me go," she says in a shaky voice.

"Why won't you stay and talk?" I ask, ignoring her request, pulling her closer.

Her warm palms rest to my chest, and she shoves—probably as hard as she can—but neither of us budges.

"Let me go, please. I need to go home," she pleads, her voice wobbling even more.

"C'mon," I say.

"Let me go right now!" she demands in a louder voice that echoes throughout the park.

"Fine, Jesus Christ," I say and release her, shoving her back at the same time.

She loses her balance and topples over. She makes contact with the asphalt sliding a bit, and the smell of blood fills my nose. Accompanied with her pounding heart, it makes her even more irresistible.

She splutters, lifting her elbows, examining the scrapes there. There's one on the back of her shoulder, but she can't see that as she twists to examine her elbows.

"Ow," I hear her say, sniffling.

I kneel beside her, and she gasps at my seemingly sudden of an appearance, scrambling to her feet. Her dress is dirty again.

Drops of rain begin to fall once more, wetting her hair, and causing the blood to run down her skin.

"Let me see," I suggest, moving closer to her and grasping her wrist, deciding to ignore her futile struggling and pleads.

I run my finger along her arm, picking up the trail of blood and pop my finger in my mouth, tasting the sweetness. I resist the urge to roll my eyes at the heavenly taste.

She's crying now as I grab her by the dress, pulling her closer to me. I move her hair out of the way, pressing my nose to her throat, taking in a breath, inhaling the delicious smell.

"Stop," she whimpers, "get away from me."

"You smell delicious," I whisper before I can stop myself, "can I have a taste?"

"What?" she shrieks, now in pure panic mode. "No! Let me go!" she pushes against my shoulders again, but I only hold her tighter, grabbing her wrists in one hand so I can render her defenceless—not that she'd had the smallest amount of a chance before…

She's sobbing and writhing, sputtering out words that not even I can make out.

"Don't fight," I murmur, ducking my head to press my lips against her neck, feeling the blood pulse there, so easily accessible, "it'll only hurt more."

A sob rips from her throat, and she squirms in my arms surprisingly strongly. "What?" she demands, "What will hurt more? Let me go, please, just let me go!"

I press my teeth to her jugular vein, pressing hard enough not to pierce the skin, but to feel it sag under my stronger body.

I take another deep breath, feeling it burn down my throat, and suddenly she just goes limp in my arms. The slight weight of her body sags against me, and I pull away, peering into her blank face.

It's a greyish color, and her eyes have rolled back into her head.

"Oh, God," I hear myself whisper. What did I do? Did I kill her? No, no I didn't kill her. I can hear her heart still beating, she's still breathing.

"Riley," a musical, exasperated voice sounds from behind me, and I turn, forgetting all about the girl in my arms, allowing her to topple in a crumpled heap on the ground. "You're not supposed to make her pass out; you're supposed to change her."

Victoria materializes next to me and stoops over to pick the girl up, carrying her over to a nearby bench, laying her out on it.

She bends over the girl, smacking her in the cheek, attempting to revitalize her.

Rain drips down around us.

I join her, kneeling next to the girl's head, watching as her eyeballs move behind her lids.

"For God's sake," Victoria is grumbling, "wake up."

And just like that, the girl opens her eyes, reeling for sight. When she finds my face her eyes widen, and she sits up so quickly that she slumps over. Automatically, I reach out to grasp the back of her neck to keep her from hitting her head.

The heat there emanates into my wrist.

She mumbles something incoherent, but before she can work out the words, I lean in to whisper something in her ear.

"We're vampires," I say, and I can almost see her look at Victoria, "and you're going to join us."

And then I bite her, the sweetness flooding my mouth like sugar, melting on my tongue, dripping down my throat.

But I manage to stop, pulling away after only a few pulls.

My ears are ringing, and I shut my eyes, shaking my head to clear it.

I feel Victoria's hand on the back of my head.

"Good job," she praises, "good job."


	3. Victoria's Battle

**A/N: Another addition. TWO DAYS, GUYS! SO excited! When are you going? Midnight premiere, anyone? … I'm not =[ Anyway, enjoy this little tidbit of my take on this part.**

**I read "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" and I REALLY liked it. **

**Here is Riley's take on the battle.**

**Brief summary: Basically, Riley has brought Bella's missing blouse back to the newborn army—who Victoria's put him in charge of—, let's them catch her scent, and trains them very haphazardly for battle, with the promise of whoever gets to Bella first wins the prize of her blood.**

**Then they head for the meadow where the battle takes place.**

**ENJOY!**

**P.S. Sorry in advance for any mistakes. I didn't have the time to go through and edit this.**

_Riley sped up to the main group and grabbed Sara's shoulder. She snapped at him as he hurled her to the left. "Go around!" he shouted. He caught the blond kid whose name I'd never figured out and shoved him into Sara, who clearly wasn't happy with that. Kristie came out of the hunting focus long enough to realize she was supposed to be moving strategically. She gave one fierce gaze after Raoul and then started screeching at her team._

"_This way! Faster! We'll beat them around and get to her first! C'mon!"_

"_I'm spear point with Raoul!" Riley shouted at her, turning away._

_I hesitated, still running forward. I didn't want to be part of any "spear point," but Kristie's team was already turning on each other. Sara had the blond kid in a headlock. The sound of his head tearing off made my decision for me. I sprinted after Riley, wondering if Sara would pause to burn the boy who liked to play Spider-Man._

_I caught up enough to see Riley ahead and followed at a distance until he got to Raoul's team. The scent made it hard to keep my mind on the things that mattered._

"_Raoul!" Riley yelled._

_Raoul grunted, not turning. He was totally absorbed by the sweet scent._

"_I've got to help Kristie! I'll meet you there! Keep your focus!"_

_I jerked to a stop, frozen with uncertainty._

_Raoul kept on, not showing any response to Riley's words. Riley slowed to a jog, then a walk. I should have moved, but he probably would have heard me try to hide. He turned, a smile on his face, and saw me._

"_Bree. I thought you were with Kristie."_

_I didn't respond._

"_I heard someone get hurt—Kristie needs me more than Raoul," he explained quickly._

"_Are you… leaving us?"_

_The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, pg 140-141_

Caught. I was caught. And I'd thought my plan had been so fool proof. Bree was really so much smarter and perceptible than anyone caught onto.

I felt my face change into something vulnerable. My emotions were showing, and I had no doubt she could see the anxiety in my eyes, all over my face.

"I'm worried, Bree," I decided to explain truthfully, "I told you that _she_ was going to meet us, to help us, but I haven't crossed her trail. Something's wrong. I need to find her." I could taste the fear on my tongue. Victoria had promised me that she would meet up with us on the border of Forks, but I had caught not a whiff of her scent in the air, even though it would have been upwind, and easily accessible.

"But there's no way you can find her before Raoul gets to the yellow-eyes," Bree said, so obviously, so ob_liv_iously.

"I have to find out what's going on. I need her," I was pleading, "I wasn't supposed to do this alone!"

"But the others—"

"Bree," I interrupted, my tone thickening, harsh, "I have to go find her! Now! There are enough of you to overwhelm the yellow-eyes," I lied so easily. The words slipped off my tongue like the memorized lines of an actor, "I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

I saw her hesitance in the way she glanced back the way we'd come. Maybe she was searching for Diego… well, she'd never find him now.

"Diego's down there, Bree," I lied again, injected more urgency into my tone, hoping the notion of him would be enough to draw her toward her everlasting death, "He'll be part of the first attack. Didn't you catch his scent back there? Did you not get close enough?"

Slowly, she shook her head, turning her gaze back to my face. "Diego was there?"

"He's with Raoul by now," I prompted, nodding without delay, "If you hurry, you can help him get out alive." Another huge lie.

She didn't say anything for a long moment, nor did she look away from my face. But when she did, it was toward the south, toward where Raoul had gone.

"Good girl," I said, using the voice I'd used with her while she was still human, "I'll go find _her_ and we'll be back to help clean up. You guys have got this! It might be over by the time you get there!" Doubtful.

Then, without waiting for her to say another word, I took off, with no sense of where I was going. I had no scent to follow, I had no idea, because Victoria'd said that I would meet up with her miles back. But she hadn't. Had someone side-swept her off her path? Was she already…?

_No, _I chided myself, _I won't think like that._

But it was a very real possibility. Why, otherwise, would she not have come for me?

I was running along the parameter of the forest when I finally caught her scent after too long an absence.

She fell into pace beside me silently, her bright hair billowing in the breeze, away from her shoulders.

I was slowing to stop, but she grabbed my wrist to keep me going.

There were so many questions I wanted to ask—like why we were headed away from the meadow when we were supposed to stay back, to watch the cacophony.

"Where were you?" I murmured, chancing a glance at her face.

She didn't look at me, just focused ahead as she dodged around an aspen tree, "I couldn't find you," she replied in her high, soprano voice, "I couldn't catch your scent. Didn't I tell you to meet me on the north side of the clearing, Riley?" Her tone was chiding, and slightly angry, as if she were disciplining a child, and I immediately felt ashamed for no apparent reason.

"You said to meet on the south side!" I replied with an anger of my own.

"There are more important things happening right now, Riley," Victoria snapped then, picking up her pace.

I sighed, thoroughly confused, and picked up my own rate, falling back into step beside her anyway.

Seconds later, Victoria turned abruptly, ducking through the fringe of some trees. And that was when I smelled her—the sweet, almost sugary taste coalescing on my tongue, coating the back of my throat, triggering the flow of venom.

"Don't say anything, and follow my lead," she murmured so lowly and breathily that I was sure I was the only one who heard it—even if we were in the presence of others of our kind.

"Who?" I heard a female voice—the human with the sweetest blood I'd ever smelt—whisper urgently as Victoria and I prowled closer, at a human's leisurely pace.

"Victoria," the male snapped with so much aggression in his voice that I felt my fingers involuntarily curl in anger. He had no right to be so bitter toward Victoria. I had the sudden, empowering urge to tear his ignorant little head off. He murmured something more, but I was so overwhelmed by my anger toward him, that I couldn't really focus on the words.

Then Victoria stepped through the last fronds of vegetation, into a tiny, charming clearing, and I followed after her obediently, clueless.

In the far corner, a canvas tent was standing, and a red parka hung on the post outside. But I couldn't really focus on that, because what I'd been searching for all along, the only thing that was really important to me now, was just barely a yard away.

Behind a bronze-haired male in a very defensive position with his teeth bared, she stood with her back pressed to the sheer rocky face of a cliff, her brown eyes wide and fixed past me, over my shoulder, on Victoria.

I hadn't even realized I'd stepped in front of Victoria.

I watched the ivory column of her throat convulse as she swallowed, and if I looked closely enough, I could focus on the so appealing pulse hammering against the thin strain of skin there, so easy to rip through, to get to the syrup-like—someone snarled.

I ignored the angry sound, focusing on the speeding pace of the human girls' heart, forcing the hot blood faster through her veins. I inhaled the scent deeply, the desire coursing through my dead limbs, invigorating me almost back to life.

But because I was still so hopelessly devoted to the beautiful redhead inching to gradually match her stance at my side, I glanced at her, waiting for a command of any kind—to get me closer to the rich blood that I so desperately _needed_. My mouth and throat burned with the raw, parched require to be closer to the thick, wet, pulsing, red liquid.

In response to my silent inquiry, Victoria jerked her chin toward the male vampire.

I took barely half a step forward before the male vampire a yard away from me spoke.

"Riley," he murmured, pleaded. This shocked me into stillness—the sound of my name uttered from someone's lips I didn't even know. My gaze flickered to his face, and I felt my eyes widen in shock.

"She's lying to you, Riley," he continued, convincing, "Listen to me. She's lying to you just like she lied to the others who are dying now in the clearing. You know that she's lied to them, that she had _you_ lie to them, that neither of you were ever going to help them. Is it so hard to believe that she's lied to you, too?"

This was all news to me, and I shot a shocked, almost hurt expression at Victoria, but she wasn't looking at me—her gaze was fixated ahead, her eyes glinting with animalistic focus.

Helplessly, I returned my wide, hurt gaze to the male in front of me.

Why would Victoria feel the need to betray me? We shared everything, she told me she loved me, and she told me that once this was all over, we'd go places together. None of this could possibly be a lie—that I could be just another one of her pawns in her little game, no longer a knight alongside the queen.

Movement from the male vampire snapped me back into reality, and I automatically, instinctively shifted to match my position to his, sidling in front of Victoria who was edging up behind me now.

"She doesn't love you, Riley," he continued, nearly contradicting my thoughts. Could this be the mind reader Victoria had told me about? "She never has. She loved someone named James, and you're no more than a tool to her."

I'd been used to distract the newborns and keep them in their place, keep them away from Victoria so that the yellow-eyes wouldn't connect her to them?

She didn't want me, she never did? No, that was utterly impossible.

A hiss from Victoria called my attention to her face, but when the male asked my name again, my attention was immediately riveted back on him.

"She knows that I will kill you, Riley," he was saying, his tone almost hypnotic, "She _wants_ you to die, so that she doesn't have to keep up the pretence anymore." Shards of cruel proof pierced my dead heart. The bare unwillingness to have any type of physical contact with me throughout the course of our short-lived relationship, the way she never caught my eye when making guarantee for the future. "Yes—you've seen that, haven't you? You've read the reluctance in her eyes, suspected a false note in her promises. You were right. She's never wanted you. Every kiss, every touch was a lie."

He moved again.

But maybe she was just stressed over this whole battle thing. I would be, if I had recruited an army I'd never even met.

Trance-like, I adjusted my position so that I was between Victoria and him again.

"You don't have to die," he assured me, his yellow gaze searing into my face. The truth in his eyes was so compelling, so easily believable. Still, I resisted. "There are other ways to live than the way she's shown you. It's not all lies and blood, Riley. You can walk away right now. You don't have to die for her lies."

I almost turned and left, I almost _did_ walk away, but I found I couldn't. I was too closely linked now, there was no turning back.

He progressed his position again, and I matched it.

"Last chance, Riley," the male whispered vehemently.

Urgently, I turned my face to glance at Victoria, for answers I needed to hear, the contradictions to what I really didn't want to believe.

"He's the liar, Riley," she insisted, enthusiastically and sincerely, "I told you about their mind tricks. You know I love only you."

In confirmation, I squared my shoulders, worked my jaw and prepared to pounce.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Victoria begin to bounce impatiently, for me to move.

There was a mammoth roar, emitting from not my lips, Victoria's, or the male vampire's, and then I was tackled from the side, thrown to the ground.

I heard the gravel crunch beneath me as sharp teeth ripped into me. How was this possible? A wolf was on top of me, tearing me apart, but it was impossible. Wolves can't kill vampires.

"No!" I heard a woman faintly cry—probably Victoria.

But, ignoring the facts, I struggled back to my feet, feeling how misshapen I now was, the absence of a hand, a chunk from my face.

I delivered a solid kick to the mammal's shoulder, hearing the satisfying crunch the bone made beneath my foot.

The wolf thing backed off, circling itself, licking at its wound, but I held my defensive ground, waiting for it to strike again, so that I could finish it off.

Victoria was moving, and I glanced toward her.

But that was all it took—one second of distraction. The wolf thing lunged at me, tearing something more from my already falling apart body.

I roared in both fury and discomfort, lurching toward the thing, powered now by pure, unadulterated fury.

But the stupid ball of fur skipped just out of my reach, and what was left of my hand swiped through open air.

"Don't go, Victoria," the male begged in the same hypnotic tone he'd used with me.

I no longer paid any attention to what was going on half a yard away from me, I needed to focus on this thing in front of me.

With another strangled cry of fury, I dove at the wolf, my fist catching its flank. A low, rewarding yelp escaped the wolf thing's throat. The thing hobbled away, trembling slightly beneath my immense, stony strength.

Baring my teeth and hissing loudly and fiercly, I forced the thing back to the cliff face, ten feet from where the girl stood.

Inside, I was warring. One part of me wanted, _needed_ to ignore this stupid wolf thing and lunge for that beautiful throat, the promise of fulfillment; but the other part of me knew that if I diverted my attention even for half a second, I would be toast.

The thing snapped at me, forcing me back the way we'd come. It wasn't limping anymore, it was quick on its feet again, and a wary, frightened growl rumbled in my chest.

What the hell was this? This thing was like the terminator.

Flouncing about, I tried to ignore the conversation going on behind me, but when, with an anguished screech, the battle turned into something vicious and whirlwind-like.

Suddenly concerned for Victoria, my gaze drifted to where the two vampires were engaged in a deathly dance.

The thing took the opportunity to strike, in the process tearing off another chunk of me—what, I didn't know. The life, the encouragement, the drive was whistling out of me like a punctured balloon.

Deftly, I lunged again, bellowing maddeningly, conveying a backhanded blow to the thing's hot, thudding chest. It flew through the air, crashing into the cliff face above the human girl, falling, squirming, on the ground in front of her. A storm of stones and rock rained down around it as struggled to rise to its feet. A slow, tormented whimper hissed through its teeth.

I took this window as a break to claim my prize. Flicking toward the heap of hurt on the ground, I prepared to rip out its throat—and then, then, I would be able to finally get to the thick, sweet blood that I always knew was mine to take—I deserved it.

The human girl drew in a shuddering breath then, and my eyes went to her face, watching as she dragged a stone up her forearm, revealing the fair skin on the soft side of her wrist, the long, blue vein worming up, toward her heart.

Raggedly, she breathed, gaze fixed on Victoria's. Her heart pounded erratically.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Victoria crouched on the earth, ready to spring toward the human, the space between them gaping and empty.

And, suddenly, just as I was about to claim the human as my own, skip the few feet to her and tear her throat out, something gripped me.

Hands, but by no means gentle.

The screech of my pain collided with the singular frequency of granite ripping. The male vampire hurled my arm toward Victoria, and I stumbled away, bewildered by the pain.

I'd caused this for so many others, but I had never experienced it. Instead of the fire burning through me, it was escaping. Such a revert pain to what I'd thought had been the worst in my life… it didn't even match up.

The thing got back to its feet, and I lurched away, whimpering in pain. I was done. This was it. I didn't want to do this anymore. I surrendered, but I couldn't make my dead tonsils work to utter the words.

I licked at the largest of my wounds, coating it in venom, searching frantically for my missing arm. It was so faraway, though, squirming to find purchase near the human girl's horrified feet.

The wolf thing rushed me, its teeth sinking into my other shoulder, removing it from my body with another metallic scream, tossing it carelessly to the side.

"Victoria!" I cried frantically, resentfully, as the wolf lunged at me one last time.

She didn't even look my way.


End file.
